And now we wait and see...

March 4th I finally got rid of my pesky gallbladder!  The surgery went well and Cody took the day off of school to be with me.  I forgot how painful abdominal surgeries were, until the nurse made me get up and walk around.  I can't wait to be able to get out of bed by myself again. 

Luckily the doctor was able to do a laparoscopic operation, which makes the healing process much quicker.   

They have to pump air into your abdomen to make room for the tools, but apparently they have yet to figure out how to get the air back out.  Look how swollen and puffy I am!  It's supposed to take 7-10 days to begin to deflate, can't wait!

Besides making me feel fat, the air bubbles like to move around and cause a shockingly large amount of pain, especially in my shoulders, who'd of guessed? Three days after the surgery i had to go back to the E.R because i couldn't breathe- turned out to be just air bubbles caught in my lungs, but of course they had to stick dozens of needles in me to do tests before deciding what the problem was.  I hate needles more than just about anything else in the world.   

So as it turns out I was born with an under developed gallbladder, making it too tiny to fully digest fat and cholesterol.  After years of unsuccessfully digesting, my gallbladder began to store layers and layers of cholesterol- until finally it hit it's limit and just quit.  This explains why I used to get sick when I eat, why I didn't notice a problem until about age 11, and why it has been getting worse over the years. 

Finally I can drink milk, eat cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, ice cream, butter, fried foods, etc.  Besides not being able to get up by myself, i feel better than i have felt in years!